CHICAGO—The question seemed to throw Mark Dantonio for a few seconds. With Ohio State and now Penn State—both of the Leaders Division—ineligible for postseason play, is there a competitive-balance problem in the Big Ten?

“Only in terms of sheer numbers,” the Michigan State coach began, slowly. “One team dealing with four teams for the opportunity to play for the (conference) championship, and the other team has six.”

Well, yeah, that’s entirely the point.

The Spartans, who won the Legends Division last year, have Michigan and Nebraska to contend with, not to mention Northwestern, Iowa and Minnesota.

Wisconsin, which won the Leaders and the inaugural Big Ten title game, has boredom and the onset of cold-and-flu season to contend with, not to mention Illinois, Purdue and Indiana.

In other words, there’ll be only one divisional race in this league in 2012. That’s the very definition of competitive imbalance, essentially. So maybe it’s not a problem, exactly—not a darned thing the coaches can do about it now—but how do they feel about it?

“Life’s not fair,” said Michigan’s Brady Hoke. “And whether it’s fair or not, it doesn’t matter. We have a schedule to play.”

Nebraska’s Bo Pelini was a tad more provocative, hinting that perhaps the Big Ten might change the rules for a season before the Buckeyes’ ban is lifted in 2013: “Whether they do anything to adjust that for a year, I don’t know.”

But, let’s be real, there’s no real chance of something like that happening this close to the start of the season. Even Pelini surely realizes this.

“Who could have envisioned what’s going on?” he said.

It’s just a strange, unsettling time the Big Ten has to get through. (Wipe those smirks off your faces, Badgers fans.)

MORE LEGENDARY STUFF

One of the best lines of the day at Thursday’s gathering of coaches and media was delivered by Dantonio. Asked about rival Michigan’s standing in the media as the divisional favorite, the coach said: “It only matters whether they’re favored or not in our locker room. And, in our locker room, they won’t be favored.”

Bang. Chills. Great stuff. These Big Ten gatherings rarely, if ever, have such Spurrier-esque moments.

Too bad Hoke’s turn at the podium came before Dantonio’s, or else there might’ve been a good zinger in return. Instead, we got this from him on the subject of being favored: “We don’t put too much stock in it. It’s like anything in life: It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”

Nebraska is the team of the three with the most to prove. The Huskers have lost four times in each of Pelini’s four seasons in Lincoln. What’s the deal? We know they weren’t as talented as Oklahoma, the standard-bearer in the Big 12. Are they as talented as the best of the Big Ten? Pelini believes so, and stressed that his depth is better than ever.

He also went out of his way to support quarterback Taylor Martinez, whose passing ability is questioned constantly and who is painted by many, it seems, as something of a disappointment even though he still has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“It (only) seems like he’s been around forever,” Pelini said.

“He’s just now becoming an upperclassman, so I think his best football’s ahead of him. And I think he’s had a tremendous offseason.”

Pelini also made a splashy statement about senior running back Rex Burkhead: “I wouldn’t trade him for any player in the country.”

In Montee Ball’s league, that’s saying something.

BUCK NUTS

There were two things new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer talked about that should be of special interest to Buckeyes fans.

One, Meyer expects them to be as nutty in 2012 as they’ve ever been, even though they’ll know from Game 1 that there’s no chance of a postseason pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If interest in the program ebbed just a tad last season—when the Buckeyes were under .500 under interim coach Luke Fickell—it’s flowing at full force now, according to Meyer’s read of things.

“There’s no such thing as a buffer year in college football, certainly not at Ohio State,” he said.

Which isn’t entirely true because, deservedly, Fickell was generally appreciated last season for performing the thankless task of dragging the program across a river of shame so it could resume its glorious journey on the other side. The Buckeyes lost a bunch of games, but it was definitely a buffer year for Fickell, or whatever you want to call it, even though he didn’t get the job.

Still, the fans are nuts again. Or, more accurately, Bucknuts again.

And yet here’s something Meyer discussed that might make said fans a little nuttier, and not in a good way. All those fine Ohioans whose pain resurfaces whenever they hear SEC fans brag about their advantages in speed and athleticism need to know that Meyer … well … he agrees with those mouthy Southern types.

What’s he supposed to do, lie about it?

Meyer called SEC defensive front sevens “ridiculous.” He even said that he noted the difference in speed—at Ohio State, a “fast” Big Ten school, mind you—while watching the Buckeyes’ special-teams units in spring ball.

“Overall athleticism, we’re a little bit behind the SEC,” he said.

FINAL FOUR

1. Hoke doesn’t know yet if starting running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, arrested on charges of drunk driving last Saturday, will be in the lineup for the season opener vs. Alabama. At least, Hoke wouldn’t say.

2. Purdue coach Danny Hope said that quarterback Caleb TerBush entered spring No. 1 on the depth chart, left spring No. 1 and will begin fall camp with the same status—and yet there’s still a chance Robert Marve could win the job. And, in this case, that isn’t just talk.

3. Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said his offensive linemen have tacked on 15-20 pounds per man over the long offseason. Assuming they’re “good pounds,” that should help the Gophers in the running game for sure.

4. No more “Full Montee” quips about Wisconsin’s superstar running back. His name doesn’t sound like Monty anymore, sorry. He’s going back to the pronunciation—Mon-tay—he started off with as a child. And who can blame him for that?